Old West Church (Boston, Massachusetts)

Old West Church

Old West Church
Location Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°21′41.19″N 71°3′51.16″W / 42.3614417°N 71.0642111°W / 42.3614417; -71.0642111Coordinates: 42°21′41.19″N 71°3′51.16″W / 42.3614417°N 71.0642111°W / 42.3614417; -71.0642111
Built 1806
Architect Asher Benjamin
Architectural style Federal
Part of Beacon Hill Historic District (#66000130)
NRHP Reference # 70000691[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP December 30, 1970
Designated NHL December 30, 1970
Designated NHLDCP October 15, 1966

The Old West Church is a historic church at 131 Cambridge Street in the West End of Boston, Massachusetts. It was built in 1806 to designs by architect Asher Benjamin, and is considered one of his finest works. It is monumentally-scaled example of ecclesiastical Federal architecture, whose design was widely copied throughout New England.[2]

The church also played a role in the American Revolution. It was here that the phrase "no taxation without representation" was first coined.[3]

Description and history

The first church on this site was built in 1737 as a wood-frame building, and was occupied as a barracks by British troops during their occupation of the city prior to the American Revolution. The British destroyed its tower in 1775 when they suspected that American Colonials were signaling to Cambridge from the spire.

In 1806 the congregation commissioned Asher Benjamin to design a new church building. As in the architect's earlier Charles Street Meeting House (1804), its  3 1⁄2-story brick entry tower is crowned with a cupola; the whole tower projects outward somewhat from the church hall behind. Four shallow brick pilasters, each two stories high and trimmed with white wood, separate the three entry doors. Each door is echoed by a window above it. The tower's third story is outfitted with pairs of Doric pilasters. On the final half-story beneath the cupola are clocks on each face of the tower, each adorned with a light swag. On the back wall, the original central pulpit window has been filled in with brickwork.

Old West's preaching played a major role in American history. Jonathan Mayhew, the church's second Congregational pastor, coined the phrase, "no taxation without representation" in a sermon in Old West. His preaching was theologically radical as well, and is held by some Unitarians to have predated William Ellery Channing in his exposition of anti-trinitarian views. By the early 19th century, the resultant Unitarianism had converted 9 of Boston’s original 13 orthodox Congregational churches.

The church was originally and for 150 years Congregational, a branch of the Boston Public Library 1894–1960, and has been owned by the United Methodist Church since 1961. It was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architectural significance in 1970.[1][2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "NHL nomination for Old West Church" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-02-23.
  3. ↑ Chris Beneke (2008). "The Critical Turn: Jonathan Mayhew, the British Empire, and the Idea of Resistance in Mid- Eighteenth-Century Boston". Massachusetts Historical Review. 10. JSTOR 25478696.

Further reading

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